Limbe Wildlife Centre: February 2020 by Guillaume LE FLOHIC Manager (Limbe Wildlife Centre) & Country Director (Pandrillus Cameroon)
Published in March 2020 Limbe Wildlife Centre, P.O. Box 878, Limbe, Republic of Cameroon
Limbe Wildlife Centre is a collaborative effort between the Pandrillus Foundation and the Republic of Cameroon, Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, MINFOF Pandrillus Foundation is a non-profit making NGO specialized in the protection, rehabilitation and reintroduction of primates, as well as management and sustainable financing of conservation projects in Africa Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife is in charge of implementing the national forest policy for ensuring sustainable management and conservation of wildlife and biodiversity over the national territory as enacted by forestry law No. 01/94 of 20 February which regulates all forestry, wildlife and fisheries activities
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Monthly Report
February 2020
Content FEBRUARY 2020 HIGHLIGHTS ACHIEVEMENTS FEBRUARY 2020 & OBJECTIVES MARCH 2020 1. Pandrillus-GoC Partnership| Public Relations| Project Management 2. Infrastructures and development| Material & Equipment 3. Capacity building 4. Community Conservation, Environmental Education & Ecotourism 5. Management of animal population and well-being 6. Rehabilitation and release programme 7. Research, Monitoring & Health Safety rules 8. Communication & Visibility 9. Revenues generated
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Dear Friends and Supporters,
the welfare of the animals under our care (p. 12-13).
February was another great month for our team: despite an increasingly difficult financial situation, a great deal was achieved. So far, Pandrillus alone has funded the food and care for the rescued African grey parrots. We were delighted to have received Anthony Dabadie, the Zoological Director of Parc de BranfĂŠrĂŠ, sponsored by the Parrot Wildlife Foundation. Mr Dabadie provided invaluable training, as well as useful recommendations as to how we can optimize our on-site facilities to ensure the quickest possible recovery for our African grey parrots. We are striving to work on these details, professionalising our system to become as time and cost-efficient as possible. Ultimately this is all to enhance
The procedures in quarantine are going well: the mortality rate is continually dropping and our recovered birds are now practising their flight in the large aviary (p. 19-20). We also made tremendous progress in planning the release of the African grey parrots. Perhaps more interesting, various stakeholders met together in Edea to design the long term national strategy to rehabilitate and release the African grey parrots (p. 8). Following the meeting, Anthony and I visited two field sites and met with the conservators and their non-governmental partners to assess the feasibility of setting a soft release programme. This will be
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combined with educational and participative community conservation activities, which is vital in ensuring the protection of the local ecosystems (p. 2123). I thank all stakeholders; the conservators of the Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserve; Douala-Edea National Park; Campo Ma’an National Park; their partners (Zoological Society of London; African Wildlife Foundation and World Wildlife Fund) for their support. It is only with this support and engagement that the rehabilitation and survival of these African grey parrots is possible. This engagement, in turn, is the only means by which we can hope to restore wild populations. Our next step will be to complete a program of DNA testing. We aim to study the genetics of the flocks to determine the sex of each individual and to build a genetic map of the species/populations. This will allow us to better understand the routes of illegal trade. We also hope to install a system of identification and provenance for each specimen, either confiscated by authorities or legally kept as pets. Ultimately, building such a database can be pivotal in the investigation of wildlife crime. As the Campo Ma’an National Park demonstrated a fascinating ecosystem and what seems to be a viable wild population of African grey parrots, we decided to organise a field trip to check Pygmee tracking skills and general knowledge on the ecology of the species. During this trip
we assess the quality of the forest, getting a better picture of the future needs of the area (p. 21-23). A second team joined to continue the prospection work initiated in June last year. Akongo, in close collaboration with our research and monitoring unit, is leading this work. From this, we hope to have a solid proposal and a clear idea for moving forwards with building a new, semi-free enclosure for our gorillas. As welfare is always our central concern, we would be delighted to have the opportunity to provide an enclosure in which our gorillas could enjoy greater freedom of movement (p. 21-23). In the shorter term, we are planning to divide the gorilla enclosure, during which we will continually assess and manage any potential security and welfare risks. Pandrillus, the Conservator and all the team sat together to learn about the conclusion of the 5 months study, made from February and June 2019 (p. 12-13). Final decisions and adjustment should be made in the next weeks, with work commencing soon after. This, naturally, is dependent on securing the necessary funds. Meanwhile, our construction team must complete several projects that have been progressing well. This is despite a short delay, necessary to reduce stress and noise in the quarantine area. As soon as the new quarantine cages are built, we will transfer
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two chimps who will need special care and treatment (p. 9-11). All teams are working very hard: Chinoise integration is progressing smoothly (p. 1920) and infant male drill Mbigou had his first health check and will soon after the second health check be introduced to a
surrogate mother. As ever, I am highly grateful to our team and their continued devotion to sustaining our local wildlife. Thank you as always for your unfailing support,
With very best wishes, Limbe, 29 February 2020
Guillaume LE FLOHIC LWC Manager, Pandrillus Foundation
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February 2020 Highlights □ MINFOF-Pandrillus-ZSL-AWF-WWF meeting in Edea (Littoral Region) to design the long term national strategy to rehabilitate and release African grey parrots □ Visited Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserve and Campo Ma’an National Park to assess the feasibility to set a soft-release programme for endangered African grey parrots □ Bird expert provided recommendations and pieces of training to our African grey parrot care team □ Mandrill: Opened access to the densely grassed strip left fallow and □ Completed the new quarantine cages □ Maintained the roof of the Gorilla Group 2 □ Conducted the second field prospection work in the Campo Ma'an National Park (South Region) to study the feasibility to transfer Western lowland gorilla, in partnership with AKONGO | Wildlife connection
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Achievements February 2020 & Objectives March 2020 1. Pandrillus-GoC Partnership| Public Relations| Project Management □ Several governmental and non-governmental stakeholders met in Edéa (Littoral Region) to design the long term national strategy to rehabilitate and release African grey parrots (Image 1)
Image 1. The meeting in Edea brought representatives of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (Limbe Zoological Garden/Limbe WIldlfie centre, Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserve, Douala-Edea National Park and Campo Ma’an National Park), as well as partner conservation NGOs (Zoological Society of London, African Wildlife Foundation, World Wildlife Fund and Pandrillus) and a bird expert.
March 2020 objectives: □ Validate internal rules and regulations (pending) □ Staff self-assessment and annual performance review (postponed) □ Draft the proposal of the national strategy to rehabilitate and release the African grey parrots
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2. Infrastructures and development| Material & Equipment □ Completed the new quarantine cages (Images 2-7) □ Continued the re-structuration of the chimpanzee Special Care and Rehabilitation Section (Images 8-11) □ Maintained the roof of the Gorilla Group 2 damaged in 2019 by tree fall (Images 1215) □ Renovated the Nile crocodile enclosure (Images 16-17)
Image 2. Roofing of the new quarantine.
Image 3. Covering the roof of the new quarantine with mats made of palm leaves.
Image 4. Quarantine septic tank is isolated from others.
Image 5. Final view of the 2 finished quarantine cages.
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Image 6. Final view of the inside of the quarantine area, and drainage towards the septic tank above.
Image 7. Final view of the finish quarantine area. Access is through a sliding door.
Image 8. Crafting of the overhanging panel to prevent escapes in the new chimpanzee Special Care and Rehabilitation Section.
Image 9. Scaffold set up in the new chimpanzee Special Care and Rehabilitation Section.
Image 10. Panel set for mounting the overhang in the new chimp Special Care and Rehabilitation Section.
Image 11. Second layer painting on the overhang of the new chimpanzee Special Care and Rehabilitation Section.
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Image 12. In 2019, a tree fell on the gorilla night den and damaged the roof.
Image 13. The damaged parts of the roof were dismounted.
Image 14. Beam, rafter and zinc sheet setup.
Image 15. Final view of the repaired roof.
Image 16. The Nile enclosure maintenance was critically needed as it was cracking.
Image 17. The pool for the crocodile was also maintained to ensure the crocodile has access to it 24/7.
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March 2020 objectives: □ Complete the re-structuration of the chimpanzee Special Care and Rehabilitation Section □ Complete the renovation of the Nile crocodile enclosure □ Renovate the septic tank in the Pandrillus House
3. Capacity building □ Bird expert Anthony Dabadie provided recommendations and pieces of training to our African grey parrot care team, among which: Bird feeding rhythms and protocols, catching parrots with a net, safe handling of bird for checkup and treatment, observation and diagnosis of the health state from a distance, suggestions of enrichments on the rehabilitation aviary, list of local wild food items to integrate into the diet, design of soft-release aviaries (Images 18-19) □ Continued the new manual of standard operation procedures (SOP) for the African grey parrots rehabilitation and monitoring □ Workshop: Why the #ProtectWildlife Campaign in Limbe? Outcomes, partners and future steps, by Ateh Wilson (Head of Education) & Cyril Delfosse (Pandrillus Education Programme Coordinator) (Image 20) □ Workshop: Behavioural study of space use and social relationships in the gorilla’s groups: results and plan to divide the enclosure, by Dr Amélie Romain (Director of Akongo) (Image 21)
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Image18. Thanks to additional training, Killi Matute, our head of quarantine and parrot caretaker, has improved on his parrot handling skill.
Image19. Killi also learnt how to capture African grey parrot with a net. This technique is safer for the caretaker and less stressful for the birds.
Image 20. LWC Head of Education, Wilson ATEH, And Education Coordinator, Cyril DELFOSSE, leading their Education workshop on the #ProtectWildlife campaign.
Image 21. Dr Amélie Romain, from partner organisation AKONGO, presented the results from the gorilla study done last year to determine the best way to divide the current gorilla enclosure and optimise gorilla welfare
March 2020 objectives: □ Continue with the above ongoing activities □ Organise workshop: Habitat assessment in Campo Ma’an National Park in view of releasing wildlife back into the wild, by Cyril Delfosse (Pandrillus Postdoctoral Researcher) & Steven Janssen (Pandrillus Wildlife Veterinarian)
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4. Community Conservation, Environmental Education & Ecotourism □ School outreach programme: Continued the 2019-2020 programme: 10 schools, 24 classes and 1,488 schoolchildren; monthly efforts: 68 men.hours (Images 22-23). Score (/10) Mean±SE 10 8 6 4 2 0 PRE-TEST
POST-TEST 1
POST-TEST 2
Figure 1. Test scores of children involved in our School Outreach Programme. The results show a significant increase in the scores test after test, which means that schoolchildren learn and understand the value of nature thanks to our programme!
□ Saturday Nature Club: 2019-2020 Nature Club continued: 755 kids registered; monthly attendance: 320 kids (Images 24-27). Sessions:
- World Wetland Day (Conference by the NGO FOREP): 126 attendees, 68 new kids. - World Pangolin Day (Drawing and craft painting): 60 attendees, 8 new kids. - Global Warming (Interactive game): 60 attendees, 12 new kids. - World Polar Bear Day (Singing): 74 attendees, 10 new kids.□ □ Community-based Green Economy: 15 ex-hunter members sustainably harvesting wild herbaceous plants: 799.5 kg of Aframomum stems and 499 kg of Costus stems; 19 women members harvesting crop by-product: 808 kg of cassava leaves, 1,994 kg of papaya leaves, 1,932 kg of potato leaves, 336 kg of invasive Trumpet wood shoots, corresponding to 75 trees hand-cut; 757,110 XAF (€1,156) paid directly to the local community association this month; 1,580,340 XAF (€2,413) contributed to alleviate local poverty in 2020.
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Image 22. Our educator Yvette Soukoudjou teaching to the schoolchildren involved in our School Outreach Programme about Ecosystems.
Image 23. To learn more about ecosystems, our educators talk along the week about the food chain and the different interaction between animals and their environment.
Image 24. For the World Wetland Day, the NGO FOREP came to the LWC to talk about this important ecosystem rich in biodiversity.
Image 25. Children from our Saturday Nature Club had an amazing time on World Pangolin Day. For the activity, they draw the scales of the pangolin to symbolise the wildlife trafficking this species is facing for their scale trade.
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Image 26. Children also put their handprint Image 27. Our educator Alvin Muma on a poster dedicated to the World Pangolin taught the kids about the polar bear Day. for the World Polar Bear Day. Kids enjoyed then to learn a song about this wonderful animal living very far from them.
March 2020 objectives: □ Continue with ongoing programs □ Organise a 3-day end-of-year event with partner schools
5. Management of animal population and well-being Ongoing activities □ Maintained frequency and diversity of enrichments in each section (Images 28-29)
Specific activities □ Mandrill: Opened access to the densely grassed strip left fallow and rotated (Images 30-31) □ Guenons and Managabeys: Scattered wood shavings in the 6 outdoor enclosures (Images 32-33) □ Putty-nosed monkey: Continued to integrate Bamenda, Eboti and Tanyi to the Putty-nosed monkey group
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â–Ą Vet cares (February 2020): â—Œ 18 Primate individuals treated; 4 anaesthesia performed; 1 individual sampled (1 blood samples for haematology analysis, 1 faecal sample for coprology analysis); 5 contraceptions; 0 identification with a microchip; 0 laceration repairs; 0 major surgery; 14 drug therapies: 28% anti-inflammatories, 21% dietary supplements, 14% antibiotics, 14% arthritis supplements, 7% antiparasitics, 7% fluid therapy, 9% others; 2 health checks: Red-capped mangabey (1), Drill (1: Mbigou, juvenile male, 1st quarantine health check); 0 death â—Œ African grey parrots: 91 health checks performed; 15 individuals received intensive care treatment with 3rd generation antibiotic treatment, antiinflammatories and supportive treatment; 20 deaths
Image 28. Example of enrichments Image 29. Thanks to our great volunteers provided to the primates. for preparing enrichments daily for our 230 primates and 244 African grey parrots!
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Image 30. Our rescued mandrills about Image 31. N’dolo, our dominant male to explore and forage in the recently mandrill, eating his fresh new greens. grown land left fallow.
Image 32. Volunteers and caretaker Image 33. Buea, rescued female agile joining together to scatter the wood mangabey, foraging in the wood shavings. shavings in the Mona monkey enclosure. March 2020 objectives: □ Continue with the ongoing activities □ Putty-nosed monkey: Continue to integrate Bamenda, Eboti and Tanyi to the Puttynosed monkey group □ Vet cares: 2nd quarantine health check: Drill (Mbigou, juvenile male); General health checks: African grey parrots (150+); Contraception: Drills
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6. Rehabilitation and release programme Arrival & quarantine □ Received 1 adult African grey parrot (Image 34)
Behavioural rehabilitation □ Drill: Started the behavioural rehabilitation of the juvenile male Drill
Social rehabilitation □ African grey parrot: Introduced 67 individuals to the group of 56 in the new rehabilitation aviary; total number = 123 (Images 35-36) □ Chimpanzee: Continued the social integration of Chinoise (subadult female) into the Mainland group: introduced to half the group and first time in the outdoor enclosure (Images 37-39)
Release (ecological & environmental rehabilitation) □ None
Image 34. The newly arrived African grey Image 35. Each bird is identified with a parrot, Tchakou, was in very good health ring and is transferred to the large aviary at arrival. It had lived and been cared for when its body condition allows it. years in a family who learnt about our conservation project and hence wanted to give a chance to Tchakou to be released with wild conspecifics and return
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to the wild.
Image 36. The new rehabilitation aviary is pivotal to enable the recovered African grey parrots to practice flying.
Image 37. Dominant female chimpanzee Papaya grooming Chinoise.
Image 38. Chinoise and dominant male Jack resting and socialising on their first day outside together.
Image 39. Chinoise in the outdoor enclosure of the Mainland group.
March 2020 objectives: â–Ą African Grey Parrots: Continue the rehabilitation process of the rescued individuals â–Ą Chimpanzee: Complete social integration of Chinoise (subadult female) into the Mainland group
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7. Research, Monitoring & Health Safety rules Ongoing activities □ Behavioural monitoring of the endangered Chimpanzees: assess the Mainland group cohesion and individual welfare before, during and after social integration of Chinoise (subadult female) □ Recovery monitoring of the of rescued endangered African grey parrots: Continued to collect data during health checks and through direct observation □ Establishing Haematological Reference Values for the endangered Drill: Continued to build the dataset of haematological data extracted from 18 years of analysis (2002-2019), corresponding to 199 samples, and including a total of 21 haematological parameters.
Activity achievement □ Visited Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserve and Campo Ma’an National Park to check a list of criteria to assess the feasibility to set a soft-release for the rehabilitated endangered African grey parrots: ecological, geographic, human, logistic, management and law enforcement variables (Images 40-43) □ Conducted the second field prospection work in the Campo Ma'an National Park (South Region) to study the feasibility to transfer Western lowland gorilla from the Limbe Wildlife Centre into semi-wild enclosures: habitats assessment in a second area, tracking skills assessment, in partnership with AKONGO | Wildlife connection (www.akongo.fr) (Images 44-47)
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Image 40. The island in Lake Ossa offers an opportunity to set a soft-release programme and activities to be run in partnership with the local fisherman community.
Image 41. Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserve: illegal activity is one threat to the soft –release. Effective law enforcement is pivotal in protected areas to ensure conservation.
Image 42. One African grey parrot was spotted near its nest in Njamabande, near Campo Ma’an National Park.
Image 43. The population of African grey parrot around the park seems large and needs protection.
Image 44. During the inventory in Campo Ma’an National Park, our
Image 45. The team also detected and removed several snares inside the Campo
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research team also localized several nests of African grey parrots, confirming the presence of a resident wild population.
Ma’an National Park. Illegal activities, unfortunately, are a serious burden to the sustainability of wild populations and the park.
Image 46. During the field trip, our two primatologists also assessed the tracking skills of Pygmy trackers: capacity to detect and identify freshness and origin of tracks, ability to share information with other trackers and general knowledge on the forest.
Image 47. The skills of the Bagyeli pygmies is invaluable for conservation actions: their knowledge of the forest and how animals use it is irreplaceable. Here, the footprint of a porcupine (Atherurus africanus). Conservation can play a crucial role in maintaining the Pygmy culture and tradition while guaranteeing adequate alternative livelihoods for their family.
Data analysis â–Ą Establishing Haematological Reference Values of for the endangered Drill: preliminary results in accordance with other publications on other African primates: White Blood Cell Count increases with age for both sexes but significantly decreases in Old (senescent) individuals, while Haematocrit does not seem to differ between ages but between sex, especially in Adult and Old (senescent)individuals.
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20
45
18
40
16
35
14
30
12
25
10
20
8
15
6 4
10
2
5
0
0 Immature Subadult Male
Adult
Immature Subadult
Old
Female
Figure 2. White Blood Count (103/µL)
Male
Adult
Old
Female
Figure 3. Haematocrit (%)
March 2020 objectives: □ Continue with the above ongoing activities □ Produce field trip reports: Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserve & Campo Ma’an National Park
8. Communication & Visibility □ Digital communication (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter): February was a good month as we reached a lot of people about our work for African grey parrots on Facebook! Our Instagram is gaining followers steadily with around 100 new followers every week. □ Fundraising: Prepared our online T-shirt campaign to support the national African grey parrot rehabilitation and release programme (Image 48)
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Image 48. BUY A T-SHIRT = HELP OUR RESCUED PARROTS! Support the rescue, rehabilitation & release of these endangered parrots. March 2020 objectives: □ Continue advocating the missions of the LWC within the Central African Conservation Landscape in Cameroon □ Launch our online T-shirt campaign
9. Revenues generated □ Entrance fees (February 2020): XAF 490,900 (834 visitors; 17% children, 96% Cameroonians) 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Feb-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-19 Jun-19 Jul-19 Aug-19 Sep-19 Oct-19 Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Adult Nationals
Children Nationals
Adult Foreigners
Children Foreigners
Figure 1.Visitor statistics February 2019- February 2020
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